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Water & Dieting – Is drinking water important for weight loss?

When most people think about weight loss, they consider a heavy gym routine as well as a lean balanced diet. Whilst both these aspects are important, dieticians and personal trainers alike all see merit in proper hydration within both these aspects, as it’s a very important factor when it comes to actual weight loss, especially when you are trying to lose weight the healthy way.

Water is very important, but increasingly so for those looking to lose weight by exercising and dieting. We have written a few reasons why drinking water and keeping yourself hydrated is important when you are thinking about losing weight:

- Whilst dieting, initial weight loss is most likely due to water weight. Dieting forces the flushing of fluids within the body as the muscles store water for hypertrophy in efforts to stretch muscle fibres for growth. These fluids are flushed out whilst dieting so it is very important to replace these fluids to avoid dehydration especially if you are exercising regularly.

- The calorie burning process will require a healthy supply of fluids in order to function efficiently. Dehydration within the body will slow down the fat burning process, as the body will halt the metabolising of fat if it senses it is dehydrated.

- Whilst burning calories is a good thing if you want to lose weight, calorie burning also creates toxins that may have been stored in excess fat in the body. Water plays a very important role in flushing toxins out of the body.

- If your body is dehydrated, it can force a reduction in blood volume. Blood volume reductions result in a smaller supply of oxygen to your muscles, which then causes fatigue, tiredness and overall exhaustion as your muscles, are given less oxygen to work from.

- Water helps your body to maintain muscle tone as it uses water when contracting. Water also lubricates your joints so it’s important to hydrate yourself before you exercise. Proper hydration can also reduce muscle fatigue and joint soreness post exercise.

A common question that many people ask when they look into balancing their diet and being more pro-active when they consider exercise is how much water they should be drinking in a day? This boils down to your body type, overall weight, your level of activity and the humidity and temperature of your environment that you live in. If your diet isn’t full of water-dense foods like vegetables and fruits then it may be a good idea to drink more water to replace the lack of fluids.

People may resort to things like coffee and energy drinks as a source of hydration but these can act as a diuretic which is actually counter productive since these cause the body to expel water. Diuretics include most caffeinated drinks like tea and coffee, which can be a popular choice of beverage, but these can take their toll on your body’s hydration rather than helping you. It’s always advised that you drink the appropriate amount of water so your body can receive the hydration it needs to function.

It can be very hard for us to maintain a healthy diet especially if you work in an office or a similar environment where coffee’s and teas are the status quo for a beverage. You should consider a healthy option of water cooler as you are able to get fresh mains fed water whenever you please which is better for your body as well as your wallet as you aren’t spending £4-£5 or even more every day buying yourself a coffee which is actually dehydrating you. A water cooler for the office is often the best way to stay hydrated maintaining proper function of your body as you are getting fresh clean water on tap. If you are considering a mains-fed cooler or boiler for your work office, you should enquire with Glug, Glug, Glug – your local water cooler company for a top of the range water dispenser so you can keep you and your colleagues properly hydrated! Visit our page on Water Coolers London for more information or speak to a member of our team on 01934 520944 for more information about our products!